Florida Beats U.S. Jobless Rate for First Time in Five Years

Florida outshined the national unemployment rate in January, the first such occurrence in five years.Polk County also started the year strong with an upbeat performance in the local job market.

By KYLE KENNEDYTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Florida outshined the national unemployment rate in January, the first such occurrence in five years.Polk County also started the year strong with an upbeat performance in the local job market.Florida's January unemployment rate of 7.8 percent was down from 9.2 percent the year before and 7.9 percent in December, according to state workforce data released Monday. It was the lowest unemployment rate since November 2008, when the figure was at 7.8 percent.Florida also bested the U.S. jobless rate of 7.9 percent in January, something that hasn't happened since the pre-recession days of January 2005."I've been saying that I thought 2013 was going to be Florida's crossover year, when we begin to cross over and outperform the national economy," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. "If we can sustain the momentum (seen in January's report) that's a promising sign."Improvements in the national economy appear to be helping Florida's population growth and economic activity, Snaith said. The housing industry recovery also bodes well for Florida, and Snaith said he is encouraged by the state's job growth patterns.Florida had 127,500 more jobs in January than it did the year prior, amounting to a gain of 1.7 percent. Industries with the most job growth included professional and business services, hospitality, retail and health care.Florida is among 32 states that experienced statistically significant positive changes in their employment in the past year. Texas led the way with 310,000 new jobs, followed by California with 254,900 and Florida third at 127,500, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Some 740,000 Floridians were jobless as of January."We are glad to see our unemployment rate fall below the national average for the first time in years, but our work isn't done until every Floridian who wants a job can find one," Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release Monday. Scott is pushing the Legislature to eliminate the sales tax on manufacturing equipment in hopes of attracting more companies to Florida. Polk County's unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in January, falling from 10.5 percent a year ago and up slightly from 8.7 percent in December. Polk recorded annual growth of 3,100 jobs, or 1.6 percent, in January.Gordon Kettle, an economics professor at Polk State College, cautioned that the local pool of unemployed workers is probably larger than advertised because of discouraged job hunters who have temporarily stopped looking for work."An element of that is true but people are also starting to discover a more welcoming local labor market and are beginning to find jobs," Kettle said. "A good many Polk residents have also found jobs in other counties as the economy, especially in the Orlando area, continues to heal."In addition, continued gains in Polk home prices and home building should benefit the many segments of the economy tied to construction, Kettle said.

[ Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Kyle Kennedy can be reached at kyle.kennedy@theledger.com or 863-802-7584. ]